Don't Leave me Hanging
by Jane Torres-Cooper
Summary: Because Age of Ultron crushed the Clintasha ship so intensely, I decided the fandom needed a little pick-me-up. So I wrote a little one-shot to help ease our pain. Please read and review! (Has been extended to a multi-chapter)
1. Chapter 1

Clint saw it happen, he called it in himself, but that still didn't mean he believed it. There they were fighting the aliens side by side, like always. She had just leaned over to tell him that the fighting reminded her of Budapest when it happened. She happened to glance over at him to see if the comment made him laugh when a laser or some kind of blaster hit her in the left side. The laughter in her eyes left the second it impacted her. A small gasp escaped the Black Widow's lips as she crumpled down to the ground, her eyes wide with fear. Clint immediately turned to his com link as he fired several arrows into the surrounding aliens.

"Natasha is down! I need a way out now!" Clint yelled into his link. He finished off a few more of the aliens in order to give him the cover he needed to get Natasha to safety. He knelt down next to her and started to look over the impact wound. All around the entry point blood was soaking her cat suit. Natasha gasped for air and lifted her head up weakly to look down at the injury. Even that small movement caused pain to radiate throughout her body. She gasped at how much it hurt and laid back down. Clint's face reappeared in her line of sight he looked worried but she could tell he was trying his best not to show it.

"It's bad isn't it?" Natasha struggled with her words. Clint shook his head.

"No, you will be fine. I promise." He tried his best to assure her, but he knew she could see right through him. The injury was bad, probably one of the worst he'd seen happen to her. That was saying something, considering how often the two assassins of the Avengers found themselves hurt. "Nat I need to move you to shelter until I can find us a safe way back to the heli-carrier. I'm going to pick you up but it's going to hurt." Clint warned her. She nodded and bit her lip to bite back any cries of pain that threatened to escape as he hoisted her up in his arms bridal style.

"How bad is she Hawk?" Steve Rogers asked through the com-link.

"I'm…ow, fine." The Black Widow answered for herself.

"You sure don't sound fine." Tony remarked from his own com.

"It broke a few ribs on its way in and I'm not sure if it did any lung damage yet." Clint answered.

"Fury has been alerted and he's working on getting a transport safely into the city." Steve replied. Clint nodded.

"Roger." He barked into his com and stepped over a piece of rubble as he came into the building. He bent down and as gently as possible laid his fallen partner on to the ground. Natasha winced at the movement. Clint smiled sympathetically at her and ripped the sleeve off her suit, he then proceeded to wrap up the wound in it. When he tightened the fabric over the entry wound Natasha cried out in pain and started gasping for air. Clint sighed and ran his hand through her hair comfortingly.

"Easy Tash. We're going to get you out of here, because you are not dying on me." He said firmly. She smiled and nodded weakly.

"I'll try." She promised. Clint smiled and kept running his hand through her hair to keep her calmed down. It seemed to be helping at least with keeping her breathing even. The fighting outside had picked up outside and the two assassins com-links were full of the Avengers barking orders back and forth to each other. The Hawk and the Widow sat in silence for the longest time waiting for Steve to tell them Fury had a way out. Clint knew it was taking way too long. They had to get Nat out of here fast or she wasn't going to make it like he told her she would. Nat couldn't leave now, he simply wouldn't allow it. They'd only been married in Budapest a year now, there was so much more in store for them. What happened to growing old together? Finally Steve's voice came over the com.

"I've got a way to close the portal. Should I?" Steve asked over the com.

"No, I've got a nuke about to blow and I know just where to put it." Tony ordered.

"It's almost over Nat." Clint told Natasha anxiously. She nodded slowly and took in a deep and labored breath.

"That's great." She breathed. Clint paled as her breathing started to become extremely rapid and shallow. He gripped her hand tightly in his.

"Hey. No, you can't go on me yet. Hang on just a little longer Nat. I promise they're coming soon." Clint begged her. She nodded weakly.

"I'm trying." She coughed as the pain in her chest increased. It was becoming so hard for her to breathe, and she could feel the lack of oxygen starting to make her dizzy.

"Tony please hurry." Clint begged over his com. Suddenly, a loud boom was heard outside. Clint let go of Natasha's hand to run to the window. Outside one of the large skeletal creatures had just crashed. Clint glanced up toward where the portal had been in the sky and was overjoyed to find it gone. He grinned and ran back over to Natasha, but when he got over to her she wasn't conscious anymore. "Nat!" He screamed, praying to God it would wake her. Still, she didn't open her eyes. "Come on Tash, don't leave me hanging." He pleaded. He reached his hand down and checked her pulse. It was faint, but thankfully still there. "I need a transport stat. Nat's lost consciousness." Clint spoke desperately into the com.

"In route now Hawk." Fury's voice reported. Clint breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to Natasha.

Hours later Clint found himself pacing outside a medic room on the S.H.I.E.L.D heli-carrier. Nat was undergoing major surgery right behind those closed doors and it was driving him insane with worry. The blast had fractured several ribs causing a lung puncture, as well as doing some splenic damage. The rest of the Avengers team sat in chairs against the wall. Each looked as nervous as the next. Clint kept fidgeting with the small nearly unnoticeable spider charm on the gold chain around his neck. When he and Natasha had gotten married in Budapest secretly they had opted for something less conspicuous than rings. He wore a small spider charm on his chain and she wore an arrow necklace. No one knew about the wedding besides Fury and Coulson and they tried their hardest to keep it that way. Pepper sat snuggled into Tony's side and Clint felt a flicker of jealously, he wished that he and Nat could be that open sometimes. Finally after what felt like hours of waiting and pacing the doors to Nat's room opened and a doctor decked in navy blue S.H.I.E.L.D scrubs stepped out.

"Is she okay?" Clint asked. The doctor smiled and nodded.

"Miss Romanoff should recover well. She's still coming out of anesthesia, so she won't be conscious just yet. You can go see her though." He offered. Clint smiled and nodded before pushing open the door and stepping into her room. There she was, clad in a hospital gown fast asleep. An oxygen nasal cannula was set up to help her breath and several IV's went into her right arm. She looked almost peaceful sleeping like that. Her hair was a mess though, and her skin was still horribly pale, but still she was alive. Clint couldn't describe the joy and relief he was feeling to find that his beautiful wife would be okay in the end. He grabbed her hand and kissed it gently.

"I love you so much don't you ever go down on me again." Clint whispered.

"I won't." Natasha croaked out. Clint's head shot up from looking at her hand to looking up at her face. A huge smile broke out when he saw that she was awake, even if she was groggy.

 _Hey guys! Thought I'd try a little Clintasha one-shot. Just because I just saw AOU and I was so heartbroken about how everything turned out with the two of them, so I had to write a one-shot and slowly rebuild my shattered dreams. Review!_


	2. Chapter 2

Clint smiled to himself as he watched the red-head next to him sleep peacefully. Her chest rose and fell in a perfect rhythm. Clint was so thankful that the blaster hadn't hit her lungs. Her red hair was sprawled across the pillow and in tangles from a night of sleep. She had her legs tucked up slightly, but not up to her stomach. Her right foot was barely touching Clint's leg, but the small feeling was amazing to him. Her left arm was draped across her stomach and her fingertips barely reached the thick white bandage that was wrapped around her side. After a week and a half in the S.H.I.E.L.D helicarrier infirmary under intensive watch by the best doctors around, Nat had just been allowed to go home yesterday. She'd been really week though, and had spent all of yesterday lying in bed or on the couch. Clint could tell she was still hurting pretty bad even though she refused to take the hydrocodone and would only take simple Tylenol. It was seven in the morning and Clint had planned to go for a run, but he couldn't bring himself to leave the gorgeous red haired assassin lying next to him. Natasha groaned and opened her eyes. She blinked a few times and grabbed at her side. She groaned and gritted her teeth at the pain.

"Nat?" Clint asked worriedly. She closed her eyes and shook her head slowly, telling him to leave her be for a second. "Nat please take something stronger. At least some Loritab." Clint tried patiently. Natasha shook her head and opened her eyes to look at him again. He could see the pain in them and it broke his heart to see his wife in so much pain.

"I'm fine. Quit worrying so much." She told him, slightly annoyed. Clint smiled and shook his head at her adorable stubbornness. He leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. She was smiling when he pulled away.

"I'm so glad you're okay Nat." Clint reminded her. Natasha smiled.

"Me too. I just wish the body healed faster. Why can't we have accelerated regeneration like Steve?" She complained and pushed herself up so she was sitting. She grunted as she did so and stopped for a second to hold her side. Clint chuckled and positioned a pillow behind her head and kissed her gently on the cheek.

"Can I get you something?" Clint asked. Natasha shook her head.

"I'm fine." She breathed. Clint nodded, but he wasn't convinced.

"Alright, I'm going to get a shower. Yell if you need anything. I better find you in the bed when I get back." Clint warned and kissed her on the cheek before climbing out of bed and wandering into the bathroom. Nat sighed and leaned heavily onto her pillow. She hated feeling so useless, but it really did hurt her immensely. Her spleen had been pretty damaged and they had almost removed it. So she knew she had a long way to go. Patience had never been her strong suit, so the next week of mandatory bed rest was going to kill her. Her hand went instinctively to the small gold arrow on her necklace, and she rubbed her finger tips over it several times. Marrying Clint had been one of the best days of her life, and she hated that they were keeping it a secret from the rest of the team. The less that people knew about it, the less likely they were to use that against them. As assassins, capture was always a possible outcome, and the less personal stuff out in the open the less there was for someone to use as a weak spot. Nat took a deep breath, and winced when the action caused a sharp pain to occur. She was so sick of being injured and dependent on Clint to help her with nearly everything. She wanted to get back into the training room and ultimately the field. Nat was almost asleep again when Clint wandered back into the bedroom with only his boxers on. He smiled at her and walked over to his dresser to get out some clothes.

"You could just wander around in your boxers." Natasha suggested as Clint pulled on some blue jeans. Clint smiled and shook his head.

"I love you." He chuckled. Nat smiled back at him.

"I love you too. It's nice to be able to spend all of my time here with you, and not have to be at the apartment whenever someone wants to find me at an odd time." She told him. Clint smiled and nodded.

"I'm glad Fury told me to watch you while you recover in front of everyone. We get to live like an actual couple for a while." He agreed.

"Will you help me into the tub?" Nat asked him. Clint pulled his shirt on over his head.

"Absolutely. I'll go start the bath water. Hold on." Clint told me and ran off. Nat sighed and pulled her feet slowly out from under the covers. She swung them slowly out of bed and placed her hands on the bed. She took a deep breath and put her feet flat on the bed. She could faintly hear Clint flicking the water on. Nat pushed herself slowly so that she was standing. Incredible pain shot through her side and she cried out loudly before her knees buckled and she started to fall. Clint caught her right before she would have hit the ground. "Nat! What were you thinking?!" He asked, more worried than angry at her. Apparently she was in enough pain that she was crying, and the Black Widow wasn't one to cry.

"I thought I was sick of being dependent on you for everything." Nat told him grimacing. She was grabbing her side and gasping at the pain while a few tears slid out of her eyes and down her cheek.

"Are you okay, why are you in this much pain?" Clint asked.

"I think I ripped some stitches." Nat told him and removed her hand from her side. The previously white bandage was now red.

 _ **Hey guys, I really liked this so I'm going to try and make it a multi-chapter story. Let me know what you guys think! Read and Review!**_


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